Gameception
by halcyon calamity
Summary: It's a game within a game within a game, and suddenly, she can't tell which one they're playing.


_Well, I'm avoiding AP Chemistry work, so I wrote this. I worked within the confines of what little canon details they gave us in the books (and a little bit of the movie, with the Glimmer/Cato) but other than that, it's safe to say it's freely adapted. Hope you enjoy ^-^_

_Summary: It's a game within a game within a game, and suddenly, she can't tell which one they're playing._

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Gameception

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**i.**

Girl meets boy, brown eyes meet green.

Predator meets predator.

The first time their skin meets is that fateful handshake, onstage, during the reaping. It's all bright smiles and flashes as the the escort trills about the newest tributes, her over-powdered face cracking at the wrinkles that reveal her true age, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. The crowd cheers - they like the look of the boy (no, man) - and the girl looks formidable too, even for her small stature. They can feel it - it's going to be another victorious year for District Two.

They forget that the girl was reaped, that she didn't actually volunteer.

His face twists into that horrible smirk as he squeezes her hand just a _little_ too tightly, flaunting his strength, and in turn, pointing out her weakness.

She smiles back brightly, but not before digging her sharp nails into his rough palm, which engulfs hers.

Two can play at that game.

_May the odds ever be in your favor!_

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**ii. **

_They want a show._

They're the first words that Lyme, their new mentor, utters to them. Lyme isn't the most notable of the District's past victors - and certainly not the most violent - but she won her Games with pure strategy, something unheard of for District Two. Cato thinks he's above planning and preparing - _who needs that when you have pure physical advantage on your side? _- but Clove knows better. She still remembers Johanna Mason and she's determined to be even more infamous.

That, and get out alive.

The problem is that _she's from District Two_. No one is going to believe she's a helpless little girl, even with her (lack of) height. No one is going to be able to pull a Johanna Mason ever again - it would just be too suspicious - but then again, Clove doesn't want to.

She's going to pull a Clove and leave them in the dust.

Clove recreates herself as Capitol Clove. Capitol Clove wears daring, bold dresses and glares at everyone with sharp, piercing eyes, just like her knives. Capitol Clove manages to enchant everyone at her interview and impress the Gamemakers. Capitol Clove relishes the blood, the kill, and the glory. Torture is her game, death is her price.

District Two Clove is locked away, in the very depths of her heart.

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**iii.**

Cato is entertained by Capitol Clove.

They're just so _similar. _It looks like Clove has finally embraced her fate as tribute, has finally flipped the switch that's put her in **destroy** mode. It's attractive, to him and the Capitol both.

Capitol Clove plays hard to get. She throws cold looks at her training partner and hits the bulls-eye everytime she throws her knives. She never apologizes, always brushes him off. She's rude to the other Careers - it's like she's above them, somehow.

Frankly, it's a turn-on.

Glances lead to brushes that lead to whispered curses, and somehow they end up slamming each other into walls, with heated, violent kisses that last for mere seconds and bruises that last much longer.

Capitol Clove and Cato are playing a game.

The switch flips to **self-destruct.**

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**iv.**

The Games complicate things even more than before.

District Two Clove is annoyed with Glimmer. The blonde girl constantly gets in their way and throws herself at Cato. Capitol Clove is silent and unmoved, because she and Cato are still playing their game, but District Two Clove wants to tear her hair out. If they weren't in the arena, maybe District Two Clove and Glimmer could even be friends.

But Glimmer would still throw herself at Cato, so probably not.

And suddenly, Clove is irritated at herself. She's blurring the line that divides her two sides, and Cato's the one causing it. District Two is starting to get caught up in Capitol Clove's game, twisting Clove into somebody she doesn't even recognize, but she doesn't mind too much.

She starts enjoying the Games, instead of despising it like before. If it's entertainment the Capitol wants, it's entertainment they'll get. When Clove first boarded the train, she cringed at the thought of the bloodbath. Now she stands in the middle of it, her hands stained crimson, her soul unstained by guilt.

She asks to kill District Twelve, begging _pretty please _and littering Cato's neck with bites that mark him as hers. Not Capitol Clove's, but _Clove's._

She decides to tell him after the feast.

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**v. **

She screams his name, and he comes running.

She tries to tell him she loves him, but the blood she coughs up stops her from saying the whole phrase. Cato cradles her head and, understanding what she's trying to say, repeats the same words back while stroking her hair.

But he's saying those words to Capitol Clove, not _Clove, _and she desperately tries to say the words that will set her free, so that she can at least win _one_ game, but she can't form the words and he silences her, permanently, with a bloody kiss. His green eyes slowly fade, and she can only form one more coherent thought:

_._

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_Game over._

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_Mehhh. I liked how it started, but I couldn't seem to keep it going at the end. Part four sucked quite a lot. Ah well. It ended how I originally wanted to, so I guess that's okay._

_I'm like, ridiculously proud of this. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. This is my first time formatting it like this, so leave some feedback about that! Actually, leave feedback for anything, it's quite appreciated._

_Yes, I will admit, some inspiration for this came from Inception, which coincidentally is one of the best movies ever because it showcases a ton of Joseph Gordon-Levitt goodness, and he's wearing suits._


End file.
